Viewpoints on Health:
Looking Under the Skin: Health Disparities and Race

March 23, 2023 6:30 - 8:00pm
Wilson Hall Auditorium (C-3 on the map)

Parking: Warsaw Parking Deck (A-2 on the map) Adjacent to the Forbes Center
Campus map: https://www.jmu.edu/parking/_files/parkingmap.pdf
Live stream replay: https://youtube.com/live/3OAaIvEwUQM
Accessibility Information

New York Times Magazine journalist Linda Villarosa examines the American healthcare system and society that leads to Black people living sicker and dying earlier as an example of health disparities among marginalized populations. Her book with narrative stories and supportive research, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation, provides the foundation for this presentation.

Biography of Linda Villarosa - In Her Own Words

I am a journalist, author, editor, novelist and educator.

I am a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, where I cover race, inequality and health. My 2018 cover story, "Why America's Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis," was a finalist for a National Magazine Award. My 2017 article, "America's Hidden HIV Epidemic," won a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists' award for Excellence in Journalism. That organization inducted me into its Hall of Fame in 2020. My essay on medical myths was included in the New York Times's 1619 Project in August 2019 and is published in the 1619 Project Book which came out in November 2021. I covered the toll covid-19 has taken on black communities in America and the environmental justice movement in Philadelphia in 2020 and wrote about life expectancy in Chicago in 2021. My article on eugenics, a reported excerpt from my book, was published in June 2022. 

For several years, I edited the health pages for the New York Times, working on health coverage for Science Times and for the newspaper at large. I was also the executive editor of Essence Magazine—two different times–where I wrote or edited a number of award-winning articles that I am extremely proud of.​

I have won lots of awards from organizations, including The American Medical Writers’ Association, The Arthur Ashe Institute, Lincoln University, the New York Association of Black Journalists, the National Women’s Political Caucus, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists’ Association and the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center.

I am the author or co-author of three books, including Body & Soul: The Black Women’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being. My first (and only) novel, Passing for Black, was released in 2008 and was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award. My book, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation was published in June 2022 by Doubleday.

A graduate of the University of Colorado, I also spent a year at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as a journalism fellow. I went back to school several years ago and graduated with a master’s degree in urban journalism/digital storytelling in 2013 from CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. 

I am a professor and journalist in residence at my alma mater CUNY J School, and I also teach journalism, medicine and Black Studies at The City College of New York in Harlem. I have been honored to train journalists from around the world to better cover the HIV/AIDS epidemic at the International AIDS conferences in Barcelona, Bangkok, Toronto, Mexico City, Vienna, Melbourne and Durban. For two summers, I served as a nonfiction mentor for the Lambda Literary Foundation's Emerging Writers Retreat.
https://www.lindavillarosa.com/full-bio

Accessibility Information

Accessible parking spaces are located behind Wilson Hall (C-3). To access parking enter from Main Street. JMU is a gated community. Press the blue/red button and assistance will be provided to lift the gate so you may enter for accessible parking at Wilson Hall. JMU Assessable parking map - https://www.jmu.edu/accessibility/accessible-parking-campus-map.pdf

Wheelchair and easier building access is located through the rear of the building where stairs do not impede entry. The walkway slopes to an accessible door entry to the breezeway between buildings. To your right you will enter Wilson Hall. An elevator up to the first floor auditorium is located here for your convenience.

ASL Interpretation will be provided for the event. Designated seating is provided in the front of the auditorium.

Closed captioning will be available for live streaming.